Websites from the ISKCON Universe
By Admin Havi das (Ilan Chester), a disciple of Srila Prabhupada received recently a Grammy Award in Las Vegas for his extraordinary musical career as a musician, singer and composer. Millions of people attended or watched the ceremony while Havi das took the opportunity to include Krishna conscious messages in his speech of acceptance, translated into English in this report. Continue reading "Grammy Academy Award for Havi das
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The post Daily Darshan: 19 November, 2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
By Prananatha Das Another new video for the pleasure of the worldwide devotees. This time I've put together a new update video for the TOVP, and once again I wanted to honor our dear Agnideva Prabhu by including his beautiful "krishna tava punya habe bhai" soundtrack. Filmed in 4K, so if your connection can handle it, that's the best way to watch it. Continue reading "TOVP Update Nov 2017
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By Amarendra Das While in Gainesville, Gayatri convinced countless students and young people to join Krishna consciousness. Simultaneously, she made more true friends than I can ever recount. However, it was after we moved to the Los Angeles in July, 1982, that Gayatri’s true character fully blossomed. In addition to the hundreds of friends that Gayatri had made in Gainesville and all over the world, including and especially Srila Prabhupada’s sister, Pishima (who often referred to Gayatri as her “daughter”) she made hundreds of new friends on the West Coast, and developed a special bond with devotee children. She was also the “Inventor” of the modern version of Gauranga Potatoes, and is famous for the renowned “4:00 offering” that she would cook everyday for Sri Sri Gaura-Nitai when the Gainesville Temple was located on Depot Avenue. Continue reading "A Belated Appreciation Of Srila Prabhupada’s Spiritual Daughter And Disciple – HG Gayatri Devi Dasi
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Answer Podcast
The post If bhakti doesn’t protect us from troubles, then what is the point of practicing it? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
The famous kirtan leader, Sri Prahlada, was scheduled to head up the chanting at the Bhakti Tree in Newcastle on Friday evening, but everyone was pleasantly surprised when Indradyumna Maharaja accompanied him and gave a talk as well.
Maharaja was visiting Australia to see his friend, Agnideva Das, who was in hospital and also attend the wedding of his disciple Vraja Kumari Devi Dasi and her husband Prahlada das.
(this blog is recorded on the full page: quick time player needed)
[Reposted from 10-29-2007]
In the Gita's 7th chapter Shri Krishna tells us that four kinds of pious people approach him to render service: the distressed, the desirer of wealth, the inquisitive, and he who is searching for knowledge of he Absolute. And once we have come to Krishna, Shrila Bhaktivinoda Thakur describes four levels or motivations for service: fear, prospect, duty, and love. One point in these two types of analysis is that there are many ways people come to Krishna, and different stages to aspire for once we do---the highest being serving out of love.
Another way to look at how we are motivated to serve Krishna is by dividing them in two broad categories, of positive and negative.
Negative impetus for serving Krishna is by our experience of the miseries of the material world. Preaching based on this emphasizes how bad the material world is, entangling its' relationships, simply awful and gross the body is plagued by, bad smells, imperfections, disease, old age, death, and even birth (which is touted as being such a happy thing).
asks Kodarnad Ganesh, Bhakta Josh asks if Krsna only exhibits pastimes as a youth in Goloka, Akincana Krsna asks about mlecchas, yavanas and candalas and Isvara Smarana asks about preaching based on talks of psychologists, astrologers, etc.
Life Of A Devotee - His Grace Iweshwar Das (video)
“People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it’s the other way around.”
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/JinrV9
Srila Prabhupada’s Transcendental Book Distribution ki jaya! (Album with photos)
This is Shyam das. He is 9 years old. He is originally from Ukraine. While we were out on Harinama on the campus in Mayapur, I happen to notice him distributing small books to onlookers. I could see “That Look” in his eyes as he approached people. He had the determination and enthusiasm to distribute Srila Prabhupada’s books. He accepted his invitation to do Big Books in the morning with us. His second day of distributing he managed to do 8 sets of books. There was no quit in Shyam das. He kept on with his seva till there were no guests around. Then and only then did he stop.
Come enjoy his and others association as we give out the nectar every day at 6am in the temple room. It will be a very rewarding 15 minutes of your day.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/C6hAev
Distributing books at Dreamforce, a salesforce conference (1 min video)
At this conference, held from November 6-9 in San Fransisco, I had these experiences.
On the first day, a person came up and told me, “I have read the whole Bhagavad-gita, and I wanted to meet other devotees. It is a miracle that is happening.”
He told me that he chants Hare Krishna whenever possible, and he has never met a devotee before or been to a temple. He took some books and gave a donation.
On the second day, he came again, and we talked for a while and he accepted some prasadam.
On the third day, during the closing hours of the conference, we were talking again, and I casually suggested that he come to the temple with me in the car. He agreed, and he heard the Wednesday evening class given by Shubha Vilas Prabhu. At the end of the serving of prasada, he asked whether he could render service and help clean the kitchen.
Through all the conversations we had, he never looked as though he were a person new to Krishna consciousness. He was saying that before reading Bhagavad-gita As It Is, he read five other editions, and none of them made any sense to him. He was also telling how he has read about many of the sciences of the world (being in the technological field for eighteen years), and this was the culmination of all the sciences he has read.
Here is a video of him speaking about the value of the Bhagavad-gita: https://youtu.be/1Jq9p6joYls
Your servant,
Madhava Govinda Dasa
The Power of Prayer.
For the duration of last year’s Srila Prabhupada’s book marathon I was traveling with Hriman Krishna in the South Island. When we stayed in Dunedin, Hriman Krishna suggested that I do a day trip to Oamaru which is roughly an hour and a half drive north of the city.
When I arrived in Oamaru I grabbed my book bag and enthusiastically jumped out on to the street. For the next 3 hours all I heard was “No!!, I don’t want to know!!” “Go away!!” “Your doing the work of the devil!!” By lunch time I’d had enough, I was thinking that I have driven all this way, a 3 hour round trip and no books are going out. The previous day I had watched a you tube Video of Kripa Moya prabhu explaining that when you are having a tough day on book distribution pray to Narada Muni, Srila Vyasadeva, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Parampara to please make me a suitable instrument to pass on this transcendental message to others.
By lunch time, I was definitely ready to offer a sincere prayer. So I begged for the mercy of the Parampara took some Prasad and tried again. It was amazing!! Everything changed! $20 bills were flying out of the wallets of the conditioned souls in to my bag and they were walking away with stacks of books. One exchange was particularly rememberable.
I was at the van reloading with books when I saw a camper van enter in to the car park. the car park was practically empty and of all the places it could have stopped, It parked right in front of me, as the drivers door flung open I raised my arms and shouted “Congratulations! Well done! You made it to Oamaru!”
The lady laughed, I walked over and I placed a ‘Science of Self-realisation’ in her hand and told her that it was a book on yoga and meditation.
Her jaw dropped and she exclaimed “I knew there was a reason why I parked here!”
Laura told me her story. She was from Oxford in England and was engaged to marry a multi millionaire, she had all the wealth and security that a young lady would want in life, but she realised that she wasn’t happy. After breaking off the engagement and selling all of her possessions she moved to New Zealand. It was her hearts desire to start an eco-village in New Zealand but when she found out about the mass carpet bombing of various chemicals throughout the land which had polluted the soil and water, it burst her bubble. That’s when she started seeking for genuine spiritual knowledge.
Extremely elated to have Srila Prabhupada’s books in her hand she happily gave $20 and took an ‘Hiding in Unnatural Happiness’ as well.
Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental book marathon Ki! Jai!
Your servant
Stambha bhava das
Vrindavan Institute for Higher Education - VIHE (Album with photos)
In the sublime atmosphere of Giriraja Govardhana, devotees immersed themselves in the magical world of Krsna’s pastimes in the association of HHSacinandana Svami, HG Bhurijana Prabhu, HG Jagattarini Mataji, HG Madhavananda Prabhu and HG Adi Purusha Prabhu (Retreat Organized by VIHE).
Find them here: https://goo.gl/X99iax
By Radhanath Swami When you advance in Krishna Consciousness, it is more difficult to tolerate being honored than to tolerate being dishonored. The world will appreciate you if you give time to Maya and devotees will appreciate you if you give time to Krishna. So you decide whom to serve. Fighting against Maya is a blissful thing in the world. For a non-devotee, Maya convinces not to surrender unto Krishna. But for a devotee, she convinces to postpone the surrender. The happiness of the material world also disturbs us because it makes us forget Krishna. There is enough happiness in this world to keep you attached to your sufferings. The only way we can make this world a better place is to transcend it. Continue reading "Words of Transcendence
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Havi das, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada received recently a Grammy Award for his extraordinary musical career in Venezuela. This is his speech during the ceremony of his Grammy Award: “ Good morning to all, thanks to the Grammy awards for recognition.
As time is limited, I prefer to put the thanks, which are extensive, on social media. But if I would like to take this opportunity to offer Venezuela my most heartfelt gratitude and a loving and special appreciation to my wife Merci Majorca for her talent, her dedication and her enormous contribution to the work that together we did these almost 20 years.
On one occasion Dustin Hoffman asked actor Laurence Olivier: ” what motivates us to do this work we do?“ and Olivier replied: ” it’s very simple: look at me, look at me, look at me!“
And since you are looking at me and listening, I would like to share a short reflection inspired by the sacred texts of India which I consider important.
We talk about democracy, equality, freedom, when since the United Nations project was set up in 1945, we humans have fought 140 wars. Only 240 million people died in world war I. On the other hand, very few are aware that 65 billion animals are slaughtered annually in the name of protein and good food. We sing and talk about love when since 1980, 1.5 billion abortions have been carried out. Not to mention the levels of consumption of alcohol, drugs, pornography, racial discrimination, paedophilia, systematic destruction of forests, water pollution… these are just some of the symptoms of the disease. And nature responds, because every action that is not in harmony with the laws of God and nature will inevitably result in suffering; individual and collective suffering. Karma is stored and when it comes to a critical point, it blows and something happens… conflicts, wars, diseases, earthquakes, tsunamis, miserable governments, etc.
I have a friend, a great devotee of Krishna whom I love and admire. On the occasion of recognition in Las Vegas I told him that I would have liked to say something substantial, something important for the benefit of those who could be watching or listening. At 15 minutes I command this text with which I fully identify:
” there are undoubtedly great causes in this world but the great cause is the one that has the ability to lead us to freedom, looking inward.
Beyond the skin and the bones, it is to discover that we are spiritual and eternal beings as parts of divinity. Only so, from this crucial discovery is that we can be truly useful, by offering the world the best version of ourselves.“
Thank you very much.
Iskcon devotees meet with the King and Queen of Belgium to petition official recognition of their religious status.
A delegation from the Hindu Forum of Belgium (HFB), including two ISKCON devotees, met with the King and Queen of Belgium as well as many influential Indian politicians last week in Delhi, India. Their aim was to gain support to make Hinduism an officially-recognized religion in Belgium.
While all religions have the freedom to operate in Belgium, only six are officially recognized: Catholicism, Protestantism, Anglicanism, Orthodox, Judaism, and Islam. Buddhism is soon to be recognized too. But Hinduism, the third largest religion in the world, is not – yet.
In the photo, Iskcon representative Mahaprabhu Das (left) speaks with King Philippe of Belgium.
To read the entire article click here: https://goo.gl/FBRtvh
The post Daily Darshan: November18,2017 appeared first on Mayapur.com.
Два дня тому назад я уехал из Вриндавана на недолгий проповеднический тур в Австралии, который завершится на следующей неделе свадьбой одних моих учеников. Чуть погодя поеду в Южную Африку на большой фестиваль в Дурбане. Я счастлив делиться милостью, которую получил за два месяца во Врадже. Меня очень вдохновляют слова Шрилы Бхактисиддханта Сарасвати:
«Благоденствие кого бы то ни было идет от проповеди о Господе Чайтанье. Подобно странствующим купцам, вам нужно развозить товары Чайтанья-вани по всему земному шару. Если понадобится, идите по всем четырем сторонам света. Принуждение себя или других под именем ниржана-бхаджана нужно остановить. В каждую дверь нужно постучать хотя бы раз. Если вас искренне спросят, каким же образом хари-бхаджан можно проводить правильно, говорите, что единственный путь – это бхактивинод-дхара, линия Бхактивинода Тхакура».
[ из обращения в день ухода Шрилы Тхакура Бхактивинода в 1936 году. Цитируется по “Бхактисиддханта Вайбхаве” том 1, Бхакти Викаши Свами. Также в “Шри Кришна Катхамрита Биндху”, выпуск 412 ]
Answer Podcast
The post How can we act on the spiritual platform instead of the bodily platform? appeared first on The Spiritual Scientist.
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A delegation from the Hindu Forum of Belgium (HFB), including two ISKCON devotees, met with the King and Queen of Belgium as well as many influential Indian politicians last week in Delhi, India. Their aim was to gain support to make Hinduism an officially-recognized religion in Belgium.
Where is your hometown?
Syama Kunda was raised in Cambridge, Maryland.
When & where did you get married?
While living in Maryland in 1969, Syama Kunda met his wife Girindra Mohini, the youngest girl of 10 siblings. When he was 16 and she was only 15, they were married by her minister father.
When did you first meet devotees?
Syama Kunda initially saw the devotees chanting on the streets of Greenwich Village, New York City while on his way to Canada. He thought they had taken too many drugs. Later, while in a mall in Denver, CO, Syama Kunda and his wife met Kamalavati Dasi (also a long time NV resident), who gave them their first book: “Krsna, The Reservoir of All Pleasure.”
What initially attracted you to Krishna Consciousness?
Syama Kunda was a Beatle kid and had been listening to George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” regularly. In 1971 while working in Denver, he met some vegetarians. One day while visiting their home, he saw a Krsna Book on their counter. The attractive red picture of Radha and Krsna standing together, grabbed his attention and he asked: “Where did you get this?” They said a few Hare Krsna devotees had come by yesterday. Syama Kunda was searching for real love, the love of sisters, brothers and friends. The Beatles songs inspired Syama Kunda & he felt if the Beatles were into Hare Krsna, it was worth checking out.
When & where did you first join ISKCON?
After receiving the booklet on Krsna in the mall, Syama Kunda and his wife decided to go to the Sunday Feast at the Denver temple. Here Syama Kunda approached the Denver temple president about moving in and becoming a full time devotee
When/where did you first hear about New Vrindaban?
Syama Kunda first read about New Vrindaban in a Back to Godhead magazine. The temple president of ISKCON Denver, who happened to be Tulsi das (who lives in NV), suggested that since Syama Kunda was a married man with a son, they go to New Vrindaban where there was space for families and that his talents as a carpenter would also be much appreciated there.
When did you move to New Vrindaban?
Syama Kunda and family moved to New Vrindaban in 1971.
When & where did you get initiated?
Syama Kunda was initiated on Janmastami day, 1972 at the Bahulaban temple in New Vrindaban during the Bhagavat Dharma Discourses given by Srila Prabhupada. Both he, his wife, along with Mother Kunti devi (Karnmarta’s mother) were all initiated the same day.
What is your favorite part of New Vrindaban?
In the early days at New Vrindaban, Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra were Syama Kunda’s favorite part. Currently, his favorite part is Radha Kunda at Govardhan Hill near the Sri Sri Radha Gopinath Temple. This Holy Dham is non-different from Krsna. And when everyone is engaged in devotional service, New Vrindaban is non-different from the spiritual world.
What were your main services in each decade, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, current?
Since Carpentry was his forte, in the 70’s Syama Kunda was instrumental in the construction of the facilities at Bahulaban which were needed to expedite the building of Srila Prabhupada’s palace: This included the first barn (the home of the first cows and many of the first devotees), the utility building (which comprised housing, the mold shop, the marble shop, the wood shop), along with the guest house. After leaving New Vrindaban in the 80’s, Syama Kunda went on to renovate the Tucson, Arizona temple and later on he spent considerable time in the Los Angeles temple working on a number of renovations, including Srila Prabhupada’s bookcase in the temple room.
What was your favorite service?
Although he only spent his early years in New Vrindaban as a pujari, it was by far his favorite seva. He fondly remembers waking The Deities every morning before work and then putting Them to rest in the evenings. Sunday was the most special day. He would roam around New Vrindaban to gather flowers, branches and even moss to decorate the altar so that it would appear just like the forests of Vrindavan. Each Sunday he would strive to make the decorations more and more opulent.
Anything specific you’d like mentioned about your family?
Syama Kunda was happy that 8 of his children were born in New Vrindaban Dham. His daughter Vishakha was the first girl born here. He was also very grateful that his son, Kiba Jaya, had the opportunity to personally stand near Srila Prabhupada and receive a cookie from his hand. Kiba jaya also got to travel to India. Syama Kunda feels very grateful that his family had the opportunity to participate in Krishna Conscious village life in the early days.
Anything in particular you’d like us to highlight not covered above?
Although Syama Kunda began his devotional life in New Vrindaban, after leaving he spent a lot of time in the Los Angeles temple which became his 2nd home. The more he gazed upon Rukmini on the altar (Rukmini-Dwarkadish), the more She captured his heart. She made Syama Kunda cry for Krsna. So the highlight for him was working at the LA temple while begging for the mercy of Sri Sri Rukiimini-Dwarkadish.
Any advice to newer and future residents?
In the beginning of New Vrindaban, reading Srila Prabhupada’s books was put on the back burner in order to do the needful for the development of this Holy Dham. He felt there was a lot of misunderstanding of Prabhupada’s teachings that has since been rectified by the increase of focus on reading Prabhupada’s books. Please take 20 to 30 minutes every day to read HDG Srila Prabhupada’s books. This keeps us in a personal relationship with him.
Welcome to the Alfred Ford School of Management Conscious Leadership MBA Program. Alfred Ford offers the rigor and academic excellence found among top MBA programs. aford.be/
Monks live on the outskirts of civilisation in isolation - completely dissociated from modern society, and instead engaged with spirituality and tranquility.
Our "Paramahamster" comic strip follows an enthusiastic devotee as he navigates a 9 - 5 work day in the corporate world. Please check back weekly for new episodes!
Choosing our association (video)
Srimad Bhagavatam class by H.G Braja Bihari Das on 16th Oct 2017 in ISKCON Juhu, Mumbai.
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100,000 Youtube subscribers for an Iskcon devotee (Album with photos)
Gaur Gopal das received an award from YouTube for getting 100,000 subscribers. Thank you for everyone who has subscribed and watched his videos so far! Without you none of this would be possible. It’s so encouraging to see the continued support that he has as he tries to create an online community centred around love, gratitude and happiness.
Special thanks for Bhavik Patel, Paresh Kocharekar, Mabick Thappa, Sankarshan Charan das and Vinay Raniga for their support and strategy to grow Gaur Gopal das’ online presence. Mabick has especially excelled in creating high quality films!
YouTube is a platform that has been inspiring people with a purpose to share their message for over ten years now. We want to thank them for this award as it excites and encourages us to what’s possible in the future. If you haven’t subscribed to Gaur Gopal das’ YouTube channel, please do so now. Thank you for joining the ever expanding community. Let’s make a difference!
Find them here: https://goo.gl/m4DJ22
Prabhupadadesh ceiling and wall murals (Album with photos)
Rudradeva das: “I enjoyed painting this ceiling mural very much, as it was a constant meditation on my spiritual master, and afforded me ample opportunity to concentrate on illustrating and producing his many transcendental qualities, through the medium of my oil paints. Along with the temple president, Guru-caran das, we decided to feature Srila Prabhupada in 8 separate activities, divided by an ornamental cornice (frame). The outside of the frame is in the form of an oval, with the temple room’s chandelier in the middle. In each of these 8 portraits, Prabhupada is seen predominantly displaying one of the qualities mentioned and sung every morning by devotees, in the Sri-Gurvastakam verses, the mangala arotik prayer. The frames are not placed in order, 1 thru 8, due to the shape of the panels comprising the oval, and of course, the different orientations of the photos they were taken from. So the order is random, but I think we chose well suitable representations, matching what we thought was Prabhupada’s dominant quality in these various activities, to match the corresponding Gurvastakam verse.
I used oil paint applied over stained-gesso-treated 3/8 inch-thick 5-ply cross-laminated wooden panels, the top layer being knot-free, of course. Instead of the usual method of applying the underpainting in acrylic colors, in this case I decided to create the underpainting in fast-drying oils, same as the over-layer(top layer). As you can see, 4 of the panels are tall (about 7 ft), and 4 panels are more squat, comparatively. I worked on all 8 panels simultaneously, first bringing all 8 to the completed underpainting stage, then working on 2 or 3 at a time, applying the final layers and details of the over-painting. The panels were not worked on "in-place” on the ceiling “Michaelangelo-style”, but rather, I painted them in a small room off the temple room proper. The ceiling of this makeshift studio was barely high enough to accommodate the larger pieces, which were also quite heavy to move around.
Upon completion of my work on all 8 panels, they were moved from my studio into the temple room and affixed to their place on the ceiling by a construction crew of about 4 men. After they were glued and riveted in place, I climbed the scaffolding to carefully caulk over the small screw holes made during the mounting process, and subsequently, touched-up and painted over the screw holes, to hide them.“
Upon completion of my work on all 8 panels, they were moved from my studio into the temple room and affixed to their place on the ceiling by a construction crew of about 4 men. After they were glued and riveted in place, I climbed the scaffolding to carefully caulk over the small screw holes made during the mounting process, and subsequently, touched-up and painted over the screw holes, to hide them.”
Sometime later, two wall murals were commissioned for the temple room, within 2 large circular spaces on one side of the temple room, flanking the main interior entrance to the temple. One was a copy of Murlidhara’s popular Krsna-lila pastime, and the other was copied from Ramanath das’ Gaura-lila, featuring ecstatic harinam sankirtan thru the streets of Orissa, with Lord Jagannath’s Ratha-Yatra cart in the background. The finished murals were well-received among ISKCON devotees and visitors. Madhusevita Prabhu, upon seeing it, was inspired to ask Rudradeva to come to Milan to do a similar project there (see Villaggio Hare Krsna ceiling mural). Radhanath Swami said, “This is the most beautiful temple room”.
Find them here: https://goo.gl/PL1rtb
Harinama Sankirtana at Grand Central Station, New York, Thursday, November 16th (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: The hol...